Dispenser for tableware



June 10, 1947. w. J. GIBBS ETAL DISPENSER FOR TABLEWARE 2 Sheets-Sheef 1 Original Filed Dec. 2 8, 1939 IIIII June 10, 1947. w. J. GIBBS ET AL DISPENSER FOR TABLEWARE Original Filed Dec. 28, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 1947 2,421,782 DISPENSER FOR TABLEWARE William J Gibbs and Ernest F. Smith,

Brooklyn, N. Y;

Original application Decem 311,232. Divided and t 3, i943, Serial No.

3 Claims- This invention relates to improvements in disperiserg for tableware. More particularly, it relat to st uctures adapta for us in restaurants. caf terias and the l ke for o veniently a d attractively st ing tablewar such as forks. spoo s a the ke so tha such articl s are maintal ied in san tary condition but are presented for easy removal by a patron for his use.

T is a plication is a division of copendiug applloatlon Serial No. 3. 1.232, filed December 28. 1.9 .9 n w Eate t No. 2,325,604, August 3., 1.943.

.Q of the bjects of the invention is the t m is on of h ders which may be readily and easily filled with tableware or the like with only the han les of such art cles exposed in attractive arrangoment t r removal item the structures one at o Anoth o j ct is the provision of a dispenser which has a imp e interlocking device which wi l'prevent the replacin of a removed article of ta e r nt the holder while th h lder is in it n m po ition for disp nsin said ware.

Another object of th in ention. is the provision of a d pen er avi g a hou ing a d removable unit in wh ch t is dif icult or impossible to place articles f, wer until certain looking mech anism have b en manipulated to release the rem vable units fr m the housin These and other object of the invention are accomplished by the provi ion of s ructures ineluding a hous ng having as o iat d removable holders which receive and ho d spo ns, forks and the like inisu h manner that t e handl s only thereof a e xp se to be g sp d by a user in removing the article, and in Such, manner that he war may n t be epl ed in the dispenser withlout the operati n of cert in interl kin parts and the removal of the holder from the housing. A, great advantageof the invention resides in the arrangementwhereby it is not possiblc for a person to place his hands on that part of the tableware usually intended to come in. co act with the food or t mouth without removing the ware from the dispenser after which removal it is impossible to replace the article in the' dispenser. The advantages of such an .arahgement in the interest of sanitation are self evident.

Theinventiou will be better understood from the. followin detail d de cription thereof having reierence. to the. accompanying drawings. lik f r nce numerals r pres nt like parts throughout the several figures of the draw ng.

wherein?- Flgure 1 s a oersoeotive view of an assembled hi t or one embodiment of the invention.

ber 23, 1939, Serial No.

his application August 497,239

Fig. 2 is a perspective view in partial section of the housing adapted to hold the dispensing units in position for use.

Fig. 3 is afront view of astorage and dispensmg unit separated from the housing.

Fig. i is a side sectional view of the unit shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a top of Fig. 3.

.Fig. 6 is a detail view in partial section along the line 6H6 of Fig. 2 of the drawing looking in the direction of the arrows. of latching mechanism adapted to retainthe dispensing units in the enclosing casing.

With reference to Figs. 1 and 2 of the d awing 1 designates a generally rectangular housing of attractive design having bottom, rear, topand. end walls but havingan open front to receive for retention in the housing removable storage and dispensing units 2 and3, said units being adapted plan View of the dispensing unit to be latched inv position in the housing, Dis- 'pensing unit 2 forholding and dispensing knives is of the kind described and claimed in the above identified copending application and, except for its illustrated association in an entire assembly, does not form part of this invention. The entire assembly is adapted to beplaced conveniently for dispensing tableware to the patrons of a restaurant or the like.

While various materials may be employed, it is preferable that the dispenser be made in all its parts of material, such as nickel-chromium hearing steel, which will resist corrosion and which wil1-not stain silver or other tableware stored therein.

With reference to Ri s. 3 to 5, there is shown a storage and dispensing unit for sDQons and forks and the like comprising a cast metallic unit in the fo m o a do b e d spenser alt oug sin and other multiple dispensers are contemplated w thin the sc pe o the invent nh sto a and dispensing unit comprises a enera y tangular casing having the vertically extending Wall 4, which wal a e formed with. inwa dly p oje t ng. s o b i s .5. as sh wn in Figs. 3 and 5. These lug portions act in pairs to defin a passage area le ser in.

ar adapted to cowidth than in that area b tween the main walls- The restricted passage forms a vertical slot of sufficient width and of such conformity to permit g the front of the dispensing device.

a person attempt to replace the spoon into the device 6 which is pivotally mounted on the trans- Verse rod i so that it may freely respond to the force of gravity. A recess 8 extending downwardly into the enlarged or lug portions of the side walls is provided to permit the entrance of the lower and downwardly depending end of the latch mechanism 6. A detent or recess 9 is provided in the bottom wall of the dispensing mechanism of Fig. 3 and a slot 10 is provided in conjunction with the rear wall, as shown in Fig. 4, the objects of which will presently appear.

Referring to Fig. 6, we have shown a latch member II, and a retaining device in the form of a horizontally disposed plate l2. Said latch member II, as shown in detail in Fig. 6, comprises a lever ii pivotally mounted on a rod [3 so as to oscillate in a vertical plane around said pivot is. A retaining casing 14 is fixedly mounted against the underside of the lower wall or floor member of the retaining casing l, as shown in Fig. 6. Near the outward end of said lever ii there is provided a well or depression l adapted to receive the helical spring, part it. Said spring i6 is constrained between the upper wall of said retaining member i4 and the bottom of the well l5 of the lever i! so as normally to retain the inner end of said latch member ii in an upward position.

The spoon and fork dispenser of Fig. 3 is, adapted to be retained within the casing l, as shown in Fig. 1 so that the recess 9 of the lower wall thereof is adapted to coact with latching mechanism H, as described above, and the slot ill thereof is adapted to coact with the plate member i2. Since spoons are often of a different length than are forks and since some spoons and some forks are of different length with respect to each other, we find it convenient to make the dispensers of Fig. 3 of different lengths, front to rear, to accommodate the length of the spoon or fork to be retained and dispensed therein. We, therefore, make the front edge of the retaining plate I2 to be of varying distances from the rear wall of the casing l and these varying distances are to be in conformity with the varying lengths front to rear of the spoon and fork dispensers so that, when in position, all of the dispensers for knives, spoons and forks shall be in alignment with the front of the re taining casing l, as shown in Fig. 1.

The manner of using the dispensers of Fig. 3 is as follows:

Assuming that such a dispenser is mounted within the casing l, as shown in Fig. 1, and that there is no ware within the dispenser, a person may, by lifting the outwardly extending end of the latching member ll shown in Figs. 2 and 6, release the dispenser so that it may be drawn from the casing. This dispenser may be taken to a store of clean tableware, the latching mechanism 6 may be raised around the pivot 1 out of the way and spoons or forks, as the case may be, may be very conveniently dropped within the walls of the dispenser until it is filled, after which the latching member 6 is permitted to fall into recess 3 and the dispenser is again inserted into the casing I until it is latched in place, as described above. A patron wishing to remove spoon or fork from the dispenser will grasp the outwardly extending handle and raise the ware lifting the latch member 6, as shown in Fig. 4, until the spoon is above the restricting lugs 5, after which it may be readily drawn outwardly from Should such dispenser, it will be discovered that the restricted passage between the lugs 5 will not permit of the passage of the bowl of the spoon or the tines of the fork thereloetween in any position. Should the patron attempt to replace the ware through the top thereof, it will be discovered that the latching mechanism has fallen into place, thus preventing it. While the entire dispenser is retained within the casing l the latching mechanism 6 is not reached without difficulty or is completely unattainable.

From the foregoing description, it will be observed that there is provided a storage and dispensing structure which will maintain the silverware in sanitary condition in respect to their operative part out of contact with the hands of patrons until the articles have been removed from the dispenser.

While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that the words which have been used are words of description rather than of limitation, and that practice of the invention within the scope of the appended claims, may be resorted to without departing from the true scope and spirit of the invention in all its aspects.

We claim:

1. In an open front and top. storage and dispensing device for table spoons, in combination, a'bottom wall, a rear wall, a plurality of side walls, said side walls having along the forward inner portions thereof complementary extensions of substantial extent which, together, define generally the outline of part of the handle portion of said spoons, said extensions also being spaced but in such close relation, one with the other, that the space between them is too narrow to admit the operative part of the spoon to pass between them, a latch pivotally mounted on the device and overlying portions of said complementary extensions permitting the withdrawal of said spoon upwardly and outwardly away from said bottom wall and from between said extensions on side walls, and said latch being engaged normally with said extensions to prevent replacement of said spoon between said extensions.

2. In an open front and top storage and dispensing device for tableware, such as spoons and forks, in combinatiorna plurality of complementary parallel walls connected by rear and bottom walls and having juxtaposed inwardly extending surfaces shaped to conform generally to the outline of part of the tableware to be stored therebetween, and said juxtaposed surfaces being spaced but in such close relation, one with the other, that the space between them is too narrow to admit the operative part of the tableware to pass between them, and a latch pivoted on the device having a portion engaging said inwardly extending surfaces permitting the withdrawal of said tableware from between said juxtaposed complementary walls in a direction generally parallel to the surface of the walls and said latch serving normally to prevent replacement of said tableware between said surfaces.

3. In a storage and dispensing device for tableware such as forks and spoons, a housing support having an open front, a plurality of containers for tableware detachably mounted in said support, each of said containers having an open top and front and consisting of a bottom wall, a rear wall and side walls, said side walls having substantially forward laterally inward complemen ary extensions thereon defining with the other walls a compartment for receiving the operative ends of tableware and a communicating slot between the wall extensions conforming generally to the outline of part of the handle portions of the ware, whereby handle ends of the ware may project through the front of the container in position to be manipulated by the hand of a user for removal of the ware from the container, and a gravity latch pivotally mounted at the top of -each container having means thereon interlock- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,110,189 Zeidler Mar. 8, 1938 2,131,807 Zerum Oct. 4, 1938 2,327,379 Thomas Aug. 24, 1943 455,770 Smith July 14, 1891 691990 Warren Jan. 28, 1902 

